Talk:John Hanson (myths)

Article Rational
Beief explanation from back when... The John Hanson article at one time was getting overloaded with these information on this page. IMHO, Hanson deserves a straight-forward biography. Although the main article could be better or longer, merging this material into it (even now) makes that article spend almost half its words responding to the 'myths', so I created this article. Improve it if you will, but I'd still vote against deltion. Just thought I'd explain why, see further information on Talk:John Hanson. Lou I 07:52, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

This article was created

Hanson, John ( an African American)
Man, A Moor, John Hanson

While I do not doubt that Hanson was not a full 'black man' as we would consider one today, he does indeed have moorish background and at the time (I am not sure about today) that was considered to be "black".

Also the article states that his grandfather was "probably" not black, and gives no sources to attest to this claim. As we all are aware, Wiki discourages the use of 'original research' simply saying that his grandfather was not black, without any actual documentation to support that position in my opinion is OR.

April 2007 revisions
Wiki does not fairly allow individuals to address inaccuracies in its articles. The writer on John Hansen has made numerous inaccuracies and one is not allowed to change them. This is precisely why numerous Black contributions are also excluded from the annals of the pages of history.


 * In no particular order, your changes:


 * assert that it is "not a myth" he was the first president, and instruct us to "Consult the Library of Congress and the National Archive Records" - but does not anywhere suggest where the Library of Congress or the National Archive has stated this. It is clear from the presented details that his position is not the same as President of the United States.
 * assert with no source that "masonic circles" long assumed Hanson was black, and talk about "a white Hanson and a black Hanson" with no explanation of who these two are.
 * assert with no source that the vote was unanimous, despite no record of the vote tallies being made


 * If you can provide details as to why any of these are specifically inaccurate, I would love to hear them. But alluding to "the Library of Congress" and "masonic circles" as your sources, without any details, does not help us get anywhere. Shimgray | talk | 16:09, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

John Hanson was Black: Fact or Fiction?
Many people apparently have argued both for and against John Hanson being Black. Truth be told, I myself don't know as I've just recently been made aware of him. What I do know is that many Blacks who were the sons and daughters of mixed raced unions -- usually against the will of their Black mothers, ie. rapes -- passed for white and basically blended into white society. Take for example Alexander Hamilton. Although he looked white, he was actually mixed. When his brother attempted entry into the US via his native Barbados, he was almost sold into slavery. It was only at Alexander's behest that he escaped this fate. Furthermore, his mother is buried in the slave section of a cemetary in Barbados. This was hardly a fate afforded to a white person.

So was John Hanson Black? I still don't know. I will do my own research and make my own conclusions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.207.68.13 (talk • contribs) 05:23, February 4, 2005

john hanson is a white man! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.238.170.34 (talk • contribs) 12:08, May 10, 2007

Yes, John Hanson was Black, in fact he was the first Black President, actually the first President period with six other Black Presidents to follow. George Washington was the 8th president. Why is this not hard to believe the same people that created the fiction that Christopher Columbus discovered American when he was actually lost and lead to land that was inhibited by Indians. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.228.18.227 (talk) 20:22, 28 October 2019 (UTC)

The 2 dollar bill picture of John Hanson
This picture shows a darked skined man seated maybe first at the table signing the Declaration, and also.. so pictures that have been scoured online show 2 maybe even trhee different pictures12.111.192.164 13:20, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

African American ancestry myth
"There is no record that the grandfather was black"

Is there a source for any of this? Anyway, assuming there was no record that the grandfather was black, this means his ethnicity was unknown. So it doesn't seem right to dismiss this as a myth. There is no record he was white either. Unless there is more information, its probably better to not mention it at all.
 * A myth is a story that is unproven, but accepted as true for reasons having to do with values, cultural or religious beliefs. Hence, most Jesus stories are myths: they may or may not be true. No judgement is implied.
 * The myth here is not merely about ancestry. the claim is that Hanson was the descendant of an African American slave. However, this ties to the known fact that Hanson's grandfather was an indentured servant. All of that said, I have problems with the title of this article and the seeming WP:OR throughout. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 21:33, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

These are Facts, the Myths come from those that have altered that fact and feed the world lies for centuries

A "Black" Man, A Moor, John Hanson Was the First President of the United States! 1781-1782 A.D.??? George Washington was really the 8th President of the United States!

George Washington was not the first President of the United States. In fact, the first President of the United States was one John Hanson. Don't go checking the encyclopedia for this guy's name - he is one of those great men that are lost to history. If you're extremely lucky, you may actually find a brief mention of his name. The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Maryland refused to sign this document until Virginia and New York ceded their western lands (Maryland was afraid that these states would gain too much power in the new government from such large amounts of land).

Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by Congress (which included George Washington). In fact, all the other potential candidates refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the revolution and an extremely influential member of Congress.

As the first President, Hanson had quite the shoes to fill. No one had ever been President and the role was poorly defined. His actions in office would set precedent for all future Presidents. He took office just as the Revolutionary War ended. Almost immediately, the troops demanded to be paid. As would be expected after any long war, there were no funds to meet the salaries. As a result, the soldiers threatened to overthrow the new government and put Washington on the throne as a monarch.

All the members of Congress ran for their lives, leaving Hanson as the only guy left running the government. He somehow managed to calm the troops down and hold the country together. If he had failed, the government would have fallen almost immediately and everyone would have been bowing to King Washington. In fact, Hanson sent 800 pounds of sterling silver by his brother Samuel Hanson to George Washington to provide the troops with shoes.

Hanson, as President, ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as the removal of all foreign flags. This was quite the feat, considering the fact that so many European countries had a stake in the United States since the days following Columbus.

Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, which all Presidents have since been required to use on all official documents.

President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department.

Lastly, he declared that the fourth Thursday of every November was to be Thanksgiving Day, which is still true today.

The Articles of Confederation only allowed a President to serve a one year term during any three year period, so Hanson actually accomplished quite a bit in such little time.

Six other presidents were elected after him - Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office.

So what happened?

Why don't we ever hear about the first seven Presidents of the United States?

It's quite simple - The Articles of Confederation didn't work well. The individual states had too much power and nothing could be agreed upon.

A new doctrine needed to be written - something we know as the Constitution.

And that leads us to the end of our story.

George Washington was definitely not the first President of the United States. He was the first President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today.

And the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.228.18.227 (talk) 20:25, 28 October 2019 (UTC)